Voicemail 2024
About VOICEMAIL
Director
Toby A W Moore
Starring
Jake Williams
Amber Simmons
PRODUCED BY
Toby A W Moore
Through a battle with grief and loss, Jake is on a journey to keep in contact with his friend Matty through voicemail's after he 'moved away'. Through this newfound loneliness Jake goes down a mental health decline, and his only way out is to accept the truth
A word from Toby A W Moore
VOICEMAIL was created by Toby A W Moore (me) for my film studies A-Level coursework, and my first actual project. And through this I made sure to put all of what I can currently do with my skills into this. Sadly as it will be an assessed piece of work, everything apart from the acting had to be done by me. As well only being a certain length of time, which is why in my view the story can feel rushed, and we don't get enough time to learn about Jake and his friend. However I feel proud of this and I can see it as a first stepping stone into my filmmaking career.
Voicemail was a two man production, meaning all of the camera work lighting etc, was done by myself and the acting done by Jake Williams. As this was my a level film studies coursework.
GALLERY
REVIEW
This is a good attempt at showing the impact that the loss of a friend can have, and at showing the use of technology in keeping us alive. The idea is there, and the film goes some way towards realising it.
Cinematography is decent, with a variety of shots and some creative use of image to show the main character’s state of mind. The pacing is also pretty good overall, with no scene or idea overstaying its welcome.
However, the film is hurt by being overly wordy, and by some poor structural decisions. While the idea is good, the script doesn’t really get into the emotional depth of the situation. This is partly because the dialogue is too on the nose, with the character just saying how he’s feeling and without much nuance to the performances. But it’s also because we don’t know very much about the character, his friend, his friend’s death or the world around them. We’re told it’s unfair and sad, but we’re not shown it.
The film reveals the graveyard in the first scene and then spends the rest of the runtime building up to another reveal. It’s okay for the friend’s death not to be a twist, but as it stands it feels like it’s supposed to be one. And because so much of the focus is spent talking around the death rather than dealing with it directly, it feels like there’s wasted time.
Many of the issues are best highlighted in the therapy scene. The therapist seems much too young for her role, and doesn’t really look the part. The conversation is long and wordy, and doesn’t really say anything. There’s no subtlety.
The sound is good quality, although the music occasionally overpowers the dialogue. Music choice is hit and miss. It sometimes doesn’t fully match the tone. Although I like the return to Since You’ve Been Gone, the second rendition doesn’t necessarily suit the walk through the graveyard, for instance.
The technical filmmaking is decent, and the premise is something that could be further developed. Ask why things happen in the order they do, what the purpose of each scene is, and make sure everything deserves its place. There are positives here upon which to build.
Cinematography is decent, with a variety of shots and some creative use of image to show the main character’s state of mind. The pacing is also pretty good overall, with no scene or idea overstaying its welcome.
However, the film is hurt by being overly wordy, and by some poor structural decisions. While the idea is good, the script doesn’t really get into the emotional depth of the situation. This is partly because the dialogue is too on the nose, with the character just saying how he’s feeling and without much nuance to the performances. But it’s also because we don’t know very much about the character, his friend, his friend’s death or the world around them. We’re told it’s unfair and sad, but we’re not shown it.
The film reveals the graveyard in the first scene and then spends the rest of the runtime building up to another reveal. It’s okay for the friend’s death not to be a twist, but as it stands it feels like it’s supposed to be one. And because so much of the focus is spent talking around the death rather than dealing with it directly, it feels like there’s wasted time.
Many of the issues are best highlighted in the therapy scene. The therapist seems much too young for her role, and doesn’t really look the part. The conversation is long and wordy, and doesn’t really say anything. There’s no subtlety.
The sound is good quality, although the music occasionally overpowers the dialogue. Music choice is hit and miss. It sometimes doesn’t fully match the tone. Although I like the return to Since You’ve Been Gone, the second rendition doesn’t necessarily suit the walk through the graveyard, for instance.
The technical filmmaking is decent, and the premise is something that could be further developed. Ask why things happen in the order they do, what the purpose of each scene is, and make sure everything deserves its place. There are positives here upon which to build.
6/10 overall.
- Lift off Golbal
Thank you!
